Baca urges California to extend redevelopment funds

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has sent state officials a warning that his department could be unable to provide $26 million in vital law enforcement services unless the Legislature extends the deadline to shut down redevelopment agencies.

In a Jan. 24 letter to the governor and other state officials, Baca urged them to support a bill by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) that would push the closures to April 15. If the agencies shut down as scheduled in February, Baca said, smaller cities served by his deputies could be forced to cover some continuing redevelopment costs by slashing their law enforcement budgets.

Forty-two municipalities pay about $262 million annually to the Sheriff’s Department for services.

“I am told that my contract city managers will be reducing patrol cars with assigned deputies, detectives and forensic technicians. This is unacceptable to me,” Baca wrote.

California legislators approved a measure last year to abolish redevelopment agencies, which control about $5 billion a year in tax revenue. The agencies have been responsible for revitalizing areas like Old Pasadena and downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter but have also backed projects that some have argued had little public benefit.

Cities may be responsible for some costs of the unfinished redevelopment projects and could dip into their general funds to finish them.

“Nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen when Feb. 1 arrives,” said Sam Olivito, the executive director of the California Contract Cities Assn. “We are on the edge of the cliff, waiting to jump over and we don’t know what’s at the bottom.”

Baca’s action angered some Los Angeles County supervisors who oppose the Padilla bill, which legislators may consider early next week. The board, which controls the Sheriff’s Department budget, approved a resolution opposing the legislation.

“We’re just going to delay the inevitable” by asking for an extension, Supervisor Gloria Molina said. “We need to roll up our sleeves and start working.”

Molina, who has pointedly questioned the speed of reforms at county jails where deputies have been accused of abusing inmates, also questioned whether Baca should have acted without at least consulting with supervisors.

“I did think it was an inappropriate letter to send,” she said.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who proposed the resolution, said it was important that the board state its opposition in case legislators believed was Baca “speaking for the county.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said not including the supervisors was a mistake.

Baca had to “send the letter expeditiously so [state officials] had time to review his objections.... In hindsight, he should have cc’d the supervisors,” Whitmore said.

On Thursday, state Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said he did not think the Legislature would approve the Padilla bill.

The cuts are an estimate based on agreements the Sheriff’s Department has with its contract cities, including Santa Clarita and Compton. The actual number could change depending on which cities take control of ongoing redevelopment projects

Officials in Paramount may propose eliminating a fingerprint technician, a sheriff’s trainee and patrol car and could slash two other law enforcement positions to fill a potential $3-million redevelopment loss, said Linda Benedetti-Leal, the city manager.

In Bellflower, officials said they are also bracing for cuts, although it is unclear how much.

“The loss of our redevelopment agency and the corresponding loss of badly needed tax revenue means everything is on the table, including public safety and the sheriff’s contract,” Jeff Stewart, Bellflower’s city manager, wrote in an email.

jason.song@latimes.com